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Breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research

Breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research
Scientists detect protein that may be key to the disease

Kavita Mishra, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Printable Version

Stanford researchers reported new findings Wednesday that they say bring them closer to understanding what causes multiple sclerosis.

In the report published in the online version of the journal Nature, the researchers implicated a protein that they believe normally regulates the human immune system, but doesn't do so in people with the lifelong illness.

The researchers, led by Stanford neurologist Lawrence Steinman, said they are optimistic their discovery will lead to new treatments for patients and possibly a way to stop the disease's progression.

For Joyce Bruno, one of the 400,000 people in United States with multiple sclerosis, the report was good news.

"Even if it isn't the answer for me, I have a feeling it's going to be an answer for someone," the Walnut Creek resident said.

In 1990, Bruno started to drag her left leg and felt intense muscle cramps in both legs. An MRI of her brain revealed she had signs of multiple sclerosis, and her doctor told her the haunting word "incurable."

She was forced to retire from managing funds at a mortgage company four years later, at the age of 44, and now uses a cane to walk.

Most people with multiple sclerosis experience a range of symptoms -- from daily fatigue and weakness to blindness and paralysis. They are diagnosed early in adulthood and experience symptoms, as the immune system attacks nerve cells, intermittently throughout life. To avoid a whirlwind progression of these symptoms, they take steroids and other drugs to suppress the immune system and control the disease.

Siblings and close relatives have a higher risk of the disease. Doctors currently tell patients that the disease is caused by a mixture of bad genes and environmental factors. But the work by Steinman and his team is putting new focus on a protein in the body called alphaB-crystallin.

The researchers found that people with multiple sclerosis had more alphaB-crystallin in their bodies than people without the disease. They looked at the protein, usually found in high levels in the lens of the eye and in muscle, in both humans and mice.

In mice that were designed to lack the protein and had a multiple sclerosis-type illness, the disease worsened. When the protein was given back to the diseased mice, the illness improved, showing that the protein could help check the hallmark inflammation of the disease.

Stem cells & MS: what the investigators see

Stem cells & MS: what the investigators see
I
nside MS, Feb-March, 2007 by Martha King

Last month, the National MS Society hosted an international meeting in San Francisco, which allowed 30 cutting-edge investigators to present new findings, share insights, and debate some issues emerging from this frontier in MS research. After lengthy discussions, they forged preliminary agreements about the best ways for the MS research community to move ahead. They grappled with these questions:

* What are the prospects for stem-cell-based treatments for people with MS?

* What are the prospects for stem cell systems to speed drug development by identifying promising compounds?

An Ann Arbor-based company that’s moving to the American Stock Exchange today plans to tap at least two drug markets that could be worth a total of $5.5 billion annually, using drugs licensed from the University of Michigan and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Two weeks ago, Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Amex: PP) received $5 million from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the largest grant ever given by the organization.

Pipex has six drugs in its pipeline, but two are closest to going to market: Trimesta and Coprexa.

Trimesta is used to treat multiple sclerosis; and Coprexa is used to treat Wilson’s disease, which destroys the lungs.

Pipex was founded in Miami in 2001 by Steve Kanzer, the company’s chairman and CEO. A biotech investor, Kanzer moved Pipex to Michigan in 2004 to be nearer to the talent pool in Ann Arbor.

ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Avigen, Inc. (NasdaqGM:AVGN - News) a biopharmaceutical company innovating therapeutics for the treatment of neurological conditions, today announced the initiation of a Phase II trial for AV650 (tolperisone HCl) in the treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). This Phase II spasticity trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of AV650 in MS patients at doses up to 900mg for one month followed by an open-label safety extension. The trial will be conducted in top MS centers in Germany and several other European countries.

``Our development plans for AV650 in North America have been strategically designed to leverage the clinical experience of tolperisone in many of the European countries where the drug is currently approved,'' said Kenneth Chahine, Ph.D., J.D., Avigen President and Chief Executive Officer. ``This trial reinforces Avigen's U.S. AV650 development program by allowing us to accumulate long-term safety and efficacy data needed for commercialization.''
Avigen is developing AV650 for commercialization in the North American market for the treatment of disabling neuromuscular spasticity and spasm under a license and supply agreement with Sanochemia Pharmazeutika AG. AV650 is considered a New Chemical Entity (NCE) in the United States.

Tolperisone is an orally administered, centrally acting small molecule marketed for the treatment of neuromuscular spasticity and spasm in Europe and Asia. Avigen's U.S. development program is designed to build on the extensive ex-U.S. safety and efficacy experience with this compound. Versions of tolperisone have been approved for marketing in Germany for over 10 years. Sanochemia and its European marketing partner, Orion Pharma, have recently received approval for marketing a proprietary 150mg tablet formulation of tolperisone in Germany under the brand name Viveo(r) which is expected to be launched later in 2007.

Claims Covering Use of Estrogens Including TRIMESTA, in Combination With Popular Immunotherapies to Treat Multiple Sclerosis
September 06, 2007: 07:00 AM EST

Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: PP), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative late-stage drug candidates for the treatment of neurologic and fibrotic diseases, announced today that it has received a broadly issued European patent which covers the use of estrogens in combination with other FDA-approved multiple sclerosis therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Stem cells trial for MS patients

Stem cells trial for MS patients

A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) is being pioneered near Bristol.
Six patients at Frenchay Hospital are being injected with their own stem cells in the hope that they will repair damage to the brain.

Approximately 60,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, an incurable disease of the nervous system.

Prof Neil Scolding, of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We know stem cells are attracted into the brain, into these areas of damage."

He added that he hoped the stem cells would "help those areas to stop getting worse" and "repair damage".

Thanks Manouli. It seems there is a break through every other week in MS. Now if we can see it in all types of the disease and those sick for many years as this last group is.

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."

Disclaimer: Answers, suggestions, and/or comments do not constitute medical advice expressed or implied and are based solely on my experiences as a SCI patient. Please consult your attending physician for medical advise and treatment. In the event of a medical emergency please call 911.

Nerve damage which was caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) was repaired by scientists from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, who were working with mice. The scientists said it is hoped this may lead the way to new treatments for humans.

The immune system of a MS patient attacks the fatty myelin sheath which covers the nerves, gradually destroying them. The patient's nerves do no work properly; he/she experiences loss of balance, blurred vision, and sometimes paralysis. The symptoms can be treated/managed to some extent; however, there is no modern way to repair damaged myelin.

In this latest experiment, the scientists re-grew myelin in mice with MS by using a human antibody. At the American Neurological Association meeting they explained that they would be starting human trials after further tests are carried out on animals.

The scientists said that although this technique of using natural human antibodies to treat MS has never been tested in humans, they believe their findings are very promising.

The human body generally is able to repair myelin as and when required - unfortunately, this is not the case with the MS patient; for them the myelin repair process occurs very slowly or fails altogether. In this experiment, the researchers used an antibody that was genetically engineered from a single cell and managed to get the repair underway in mice with MS. The antibody continued working even while the mice were undergoing steroid treatment with methylprednisolone. Humans with MS frequently have to take steroid treatment.